Awakening (Please Vote with Monthly Tickets)

However, Grizzly Boom seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He immediately exited his full-beast form, shrinking his body size and evading the slash.

He spun around in an instant, his arms transforming and swelling as he swung out a dozen or so claw slashes.

Martin also swung his long blade, and slash after slash collided wildly in midair. The surrounding buildings were destroyed by the shockwaves of their clash.

After trading blows for several minutes, sixty-six-year-old Martin had not fallen behind, but his slightly ragged breathing clearly showed that his stamina was starting to fail him.

Those few minutes might not have seemed like much, but in that time, the frenzied bear man had unleashed hundreds of claw slashes with the claws on his bear paws.

He did not give Martin even a moment to catch his breath.

Roar! Grizzly Boom transformed further, entering his half-beast form as he lunged at Martin with complete disregard for his life. Pitch-black Armament Haki instantly covered his entire body.

Meanwhile, his Observation Haki seemed to predict the future, allowing him to evade most of Martin's slashes while tanking the few remaining ones head-on.

Martin's expression changed drastically when Grizzly Boom closed in. It was already too late to create distance, so he could only grit his teeth and meet the attack head-on.

Martin raised an arm to block.

Crack!

Even with Armament Haki coating it, his arm could not withstand the crushing blow of Grizzly Boom's bear paw. His right arm snapped and twisted grotesquely.

Just as Grizzly Boom was about to slap Martin to death, the belated Dra finally arrived and launched a chain of Tempest Kicks at Grizzly Boom's head.

But Grizzly Boom, his eyes blazing with ferocity, ignored Dra's attack. Instead, his body swelled another size as he grabbed Martin's sword-wielding left hand in one paw.

Crack! He tore off Martin's left hand.

"Ahhh!"

"Bastard, die!" Dra struck in fury. Because Grizzly Boom's body had expanded, his kick missed the head and struck him in the back instead.

Grizzly Boom's back was covered in dense Armament Haki, and Dra's chain of Tempest Kicks felt as though they had struck a steel plate.

In that split second, Grizzly Boom performed a Kami Dragon Tail, kicking Dra into the air. Then he spun and swung his paw. "Rampaging Bear Hundred Strikes."

In an instant, hundreds of claw slashes surged toward Dra in midair. The overwhelming barrage tore him to pieces, leaving his body covered in wounds.

Then, with a swift and vicious backward kick, he sent Martin—who had been trying to sneak an attack in with his kicking techniques—flying away.

"Urgh! Pfft!"

Martin's ribs shattered in his chest, and he spat blood as he crashed into the ruins of a nearby cell. With both hands ruined and his ribs broken, he had not only lost all fighting ability—his life was also hanging by a thread.

Dra was no better off. They had both underestimated how terrifying Grizzly Boom was.

Elsewhere.

After receiving Dra's report in Infinite Hell, Magellan ordered Shiryu of the Rain beside him, "Shiryu, go support Captain Dra and the others."

Shiryu of the Rain picked up his long blade, Raiu. "It won't be a problem if I kill them all, will it?"

Though it sounded like a question, his tone carried a heavy certainty and bloodlust.

Magellan replied with a headache, "Do as you please, but don't make such a mess that it can't be cleaned up."

However, before Shiryu of the Rain could even leave the office, a prison guard rushed in with a grave expression.

"Report! The elevator leading to Scorching Hell has been destroyed! Captain Martin and Captain Dra have also been severely wounded by Grizzly Boom. The prisoners of Scorching Hell are now charging toward Hunger Hell!"

Magellan was startled. "What? Damn it! Shiryu, take the stairs, now!"

"Got it. I hope these bastards can take a few cuts!" With that, Shiryu of the Rain pushed open the door and used Soru to hurry on his way.

However, with the elevator that allowed rapid support gone, he had to take the stairs through the fifth level, Extreme Cold Hell, before he could reach Scorching Hell.

Moreover, the rioting prisoners would not stupidly remain in Scorching Hell. They would certainly fight to the death to flee upward into Hunger Hell.

At the same time.

Magellan also notified Hannibal and the others in Hunger Hell, ordering them to block the enemies attempting to escape at the stairway between the third and fourth levels.

If Infinite Hell had not been so important, and if Magellan's strength had been anywhere near what it would become in later generations, he would have already used Venom Road to rush toward Scorching Hell.

At the stairway between Hunger Hell and Scorching Hell.

Hannibal's expression was extremely grim. Still very young, he was somewhat lacking in confidence when facing the prisoners of Scorching Hell.

According to the surveillance intelligence from the Den Den Mushi, he already knew that the two senior officers, Martin and Dra, had been severely wounded by Grizzly Boom.

This made Hannibal even more worried.

Cook, on the other hand, stood silently before the gate like a mountain, continuing to rest with his eyes closed.

His adjutant Zachary, guard captain John, and the others were somewhat worried as well, but they were not as panicked as the ordinary prison guards. The main reason was that the Evolution Seed had brought them unprecedented changes over the past month.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The moment the thunderous crashes rang out, the massive gate at the stairway was smashed into pieces by brute force.

Roar! Grizzly Boom charged out with a roar, followed by several hundred escaped prisoners from Scorching Hell, all howling and shouting.

"Charge!"

"Take down the prison guards! Freedom is right in front of us!"

"Kill!"

"Ha ha ha..."

Madness, bloodlust, and chaos filled the air, as though they wanted to tear Hannibal and the other guards to pieces to vent the darkness in their hearts.

Among the prisoners, there were quite a few who remained calm. In particular, the Dozens of Devil Fruit Ability users were each plotting their own schemes.

"You damned scum, that's enough!" Hannibal brandished his trident and charged at Grizzly Boom.

At the same time, the other jailers raised their muskets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A dense barrage of lead bullets shot toward the prisoners rushing out.

The two sides immediately clashed.

Roar! With a roar, Grizzly Boom actually sent Hannibal flying with a single slap. From Cook's Observation Haki, it was clear that Hannibal had been severely wounded by that strike.

He truly was a perfect Zoan Awakening user.

Cook knew Grizzly Boom's condition inside and out, and he moved at once.

20% Cell Power!

His pitch-black fist and lightning-fast figure appeared before Grizzly Boom, and his fist instantly slammed into the bear man's chest.

Pfft! Grizzly Boom spat out bloody foam and was sent flying into the crowd of prisoners.

Cook slowly opened his eyes.

"This path is closed."

Gulp! One prisoner's Both Hands trembled slightly.

"Everyone, don't..."

"Don't what?"

Before he could finish speaking, Cook had already appeared beside him, pulling his finger from the man's temple.

The prisoner instantly collapsed, fear and bewilderment still Remaining in his eyes.

Roar! "You think this is all I'm capable of?" As the wound on his chest wriggled and healed, Grizzly Boom rose again with even greater ferocity. His wound had completely recovered.

Just as Cook was about to strike again—

A slash flew up from below Scorching Hell, instantly cutting more than a dozen prisoners in half.

"I'll take care of this bear. Go clean up the other trash!"

Cook did not answer. He simply leaped away, using his actions to show his agreement.

Shiryu looked at this colleague he had barely spoken to as if he were seeing him for the first time, but he quickly withdrew his attention.

Because Grizzly Boom had already charged at him. The bear man was covered from head to toe in Armament Haki, and combined with his awakened Devil Fruit Ability, he was terrifying to the extreme.

Even Shiryu had no choice but to face him with complete focus.

And the longer they fought, the more alarmed he became. Relying on his tough hide and thick flesh, along with Haki and his awakened Zoan powers, Grizzly Boom fought by trading injury for injury.

Shiryu was actually being suppressed.

But that made sense. After all, Shiryu was still very young at this time and had yet to reach the peak he would attain in Later Generations.

As for Cook, things were much easier on his side. With the assistance of Vice Warden Zachary and the others, there was basically no problem.

Thank you all for your support. (ω｀) The contract has already been signed.